A party convention isn’t just a chance to celebrate the current presidential candidate, it’s where the search for the next one begins. TIME grades 10 promising Republicans who spoke at the 2012 RNC in Tampa

Virgil Goode glides through the doors of a McDonald’s in Farmville, VA, at 11:52 am and instantly three construction workers in the back booth rise to their feet. “I’ve been wanting to shake your hand a long time, sir,” says …

Imagine how crazy it would be if Michele Bachmann lost her House seat to a Tea Partyer even more conservative than she was—that’s the equivalent of what happened on Tuesday when three-term Rep. Jean Schmidt lost the Republican primary in Ohio’s 2nd District to political rookie Brad Wenstrup. The upset was big—just last cycle, …

0 minutes. Dry your eyes. It’s hard on all of us. But if you keep crying like this you won’t be able to see the 20th debate, perhaps the last of the primaries. We can do this together, learn to let go. But the sobbing must …

Rick Santorum found himself in unfamiliar territory on Wednesday night: at the center of attention in a Republican primary debate. The CNN forum in Arizona was the first in almost a month, and the only debate held since upsets in …

0 minutes. “Only one thing is certain,” CNN’s opening montage declares. “Expect the unexpected.” That hits the spot. We need false hope at a time like this. It’s the 19th Republican debate. Everything that can happen …